Raising Dragons/Jerdine Nolen/Created by Anchorage District

Raising Dragons/Jerdine Nolen/Created by Anchorage District

Unit 3/Week 3

Title: Raising Dragons

Suggested Time: 5 days (45 minutes per day)

Common Core ELA Standards: RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.3, RL.3.4, RL.3.5, RL.3.7, RL.3.10; RF.3.3, RF.3.4; W.3.1, W.3.4; SL.3.1, SL.3.6, L.3.1, L.3.2, L.3.4, L.3.5

Teacher Instructions

Refer to the Introduction for further details.

Before Teaching

1.  Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers, about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.

Big Ideas and Key Understandings

Hard work and responsibility can help you realize your dreams. Friendship, sometimes with unlikely characters, can enrich our lives.

Synopsis

A young girl raises Hank, a dragon, on her family’s farm. Hank helps out, but soon he outgrows the farm. The young girl takes Hank to Dragon Island, but returns to the farm with a new batch of eggs.

2.  Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.

3.  Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Vocabulary.

During Teaching

1.  Students read the entire main selection text independently.

2.  Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along. (Depending on how complex the text is and the amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.)

3.  Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and returning to the text. A variety of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent written response, group work, etc.)

Text Dependent Questions

Text Dependent Questions / Answers
P 366 Read the sentence that starts with “Now me . . . “ Who is “me” and how do you know? / Me is the little girl, the story is written in first person, she is the narrator.
P 369 Reread the fifth paragraph beginning with. “I always minded my parents…” What does the author mean by “minded”? How does this cause her a dilemma? / Minded means, following rules and directions.
Her dilemma is that she really wants to mind them, but she can’t stay away.
On page 371, what does the author say about how the girl feels about dragons? How do her parents feel about them? / The author states, for the little girl, “it was love at first sight.” Pa wouldn’t see the sense in having a dragon. Ma thought having a dragon around would be, “worse than having a field full of critters.”
P 374 According to the author how is the girl’s relationship with Hank changing her? / She is no longer afraid of the dark. She viewed her world differently. “Hank showed me my world from on high” and “up there I saw things for what they were”
P 376 Select examples in the story of ways that Ma and Pa’s attitude towards Hank are changing. / - Pa noticed Hanks work and was “plumb flabbergasted”
-When Ma’s tomatoes were saved she was beholden to Hank and started fixing him fancy meals.
P 378 There are several examples of cause and effect on this page. For example, when Hank and the Little Girl planted corn the author states “there was corn growing everywhere…there was too much corn”. In this example, the cause is that Little Girl and a dragon planted corn. The effect was that there was too much corn. Identify one other example of cause and effect on this page. / -People bought tomatoes because they were medicinal and it cured the gout
-Hank solved the problem of too much corn by blowing on the corn with his breath which turned it into popcorn.
-The family had too much popcorn so they sold for a profit.
P 380 The girl says that “the crowds and attention decided his fate.” Since she decides to take him away, what do you think the phrase ‘decided his fate’ means?” / - The girl could see that the crowds and attention Hank was receiving were not good for him and he needed a more dragon friendly place.
P 382 - 385 Reread this section and analyze how the girl feels about the vacation on Dragon Island. Compare and contrast these feelings with specific details from the text. / - She is happy because “it was a great vacation”, she watched Hank play with other dragons
-She is sad because she has to say farewell
P 385-387 The little girl says that she knows she will see Hank again.” Why does she say this? / She brought back eggs and will have to raise them and bring them to Dragon Island, therefore she will see Hank again.

Vocabulary

KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING / WORDS WORTH KNOWING
General teaching suggestions are provided in the Introduction
TEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION
not enough contextual clues provided in the text / Page 376 - beholden / Page 369 - perch
Page 376 - plumb flabbergasted (only one example of the vernacular found throughout the text)
Page 378 - gout, harvested
Page 380 - atlas
Narrator
STUDENTS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING
sufficient context clues are provided in the text / Page 369 - minded
Page 376 - crops
Page 378 - uneasy, trench / Page 366 - chores
Page 371 - whimper, appetite
Page 378 - medicinal
Page 380 - landmass
Page 385 - departing, farewell

Culminating Task

●  Re-Read, Think, Discuss, Write

Hank is on Dragon Island, and the little girl decides to write Hank a letter thanking him for the ways their friendship has enriched her life. Write the letter from the little girl’s viewpoint using details from the story.

Letters should include how Hank enriched the girl’s life by teaching her responsibility (taking care of him), teaching her to be fearless, helping her look at the world differently and with imagination, problem solving and resourcefulness, how to let go and say goodbye, and ultimately, optimism.

Additional Tasks

●  Make a diagram of a dragon hotel and label featured that would make it different from a regular hotel

●  Write a persuasive letter to Ma and Pa, convincing them to let you keep the eggs. Use evidence from the text to support your argument that the eggs should be allowed to stay.

●  Predict what might happen if the story continued.

●  The author uses metaphors throughout the story, for example on p 371 she describes the hatching of Hank’s egg as “louder than one hundred firecrackers on the forth of July”. With a partner, write and illustrate your own metaphor to share with the class.

●  On page 366, Pa talks about “fanciful critters.” This is an example of using vernacular in text. Find five other examples of use of vernacular and develop a glossary for these terms.

Raising Dragons/Jerdine Nolen/Created by Anchorage District

Answer: (Pg. 376) flabbergasted - amazed

(Pg. 376) varmints - small rodents

(Pg. 371) li’l feller - small creature

(Pg. 385) boohooed a heap - cried a lot

(Pg. 373 ) critter - animal

Raising Dragons/Jerdine Nolen/Created by Anchorage District